Physics

We’ve just been watching the excellent new BBC/Open University movie, The Challenger, starring William Hurt, telling the story of how Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman uncovered the truth behind the 1986 space shuttle disaster. As a former physicist with a passion for science stretching back as far as I can remember, I’m getting increasingly concerned … Continue reading What does the Challenger disaster tell us about the meaning of “evidence”?→

30 kilos of plutonium went missing from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in 2003/4 according to the BBC News this morning. That’s enough to make 7 atom bombs! So where did it go? The BBC says it’s “just on paper”: There is no evidence to suggest that any of the apparent losses reported were real … Continue reading 30 kg plutonium missing from Sellafield nuclear plant→